Conservators occupational hazards

Monona Rossol is a potter, chemist and art teacher, with a special interest in the hazards of the materials used in art and art conservation. She holds a BS in chemistry, an MS in ceramics and sculpture, and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1977 Monona Rossol helped to found the Centre for Occupational Hazards, and is currently its President and the Director of its Art Hazards Information Center. She lectures and consults nationally about hazards in the arts, conservation and theatre. She has written over 20 data sheets for the COH and regularly contributes to the Art Hazard News. She has also written a book on theatre hazards and is working currently on a book about ceramics hazards. 

The Center for Occupational Hazards (New York) publishes a range of literature on hazards and their control in several branches of the arts and crafts as well as on museum disciplines such as conservation, fire safety and natural history. 

EL = emissions level ERA = Environmental Protection Agency HSDB = Hazardous Substances Data Bank lARC = International Agency for Research on Cancer IRIS = Integrated Risk Information System NIOSH = National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health OEL = occupational exposure limit OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration PEL = permissible exposure limit RAC = reference air concentration REL = recommended exposure limit RCRA = Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RfD = reference dose TLV = threshold limit value TWA = time-weighted average WHO = World Health Organization... 

Personnel. More than any other area, we are often asked "How many people has your corporation added due to TSCA " I don t know of anyone who has a concise answer to this question. Complicating the situation is the fact that the 1960 s and 1970 s saw a number of environmental and health laws go into effect the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, TSCA, Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, to mention the major ones. This mixture of acts, with some similarities of purpose, developing within a time span of 10-15 years, has made a variety of similar demands. It is not easy at this point to attribute the addition of staff support personnel to an individual law such as TSCA. The same observation is applicable to all corporate resources which have felt the effects of TSCA however, in order to... 

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodentid.de Act Food. Drug, and Cosmetic Act Hazardous Materials Transportation Act National Environmental Policy Act Occupational Safety and Health Act Resource Conservation and Recoveiy Act Safe Drinking Water Act Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act Toxic Substances Control Act... 

Under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), BP must be managed as a hazardous waste according to federal and/or state regulations. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) federal drinking water standard is 0.2 mg 1 . The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health occupa-... 

Environmental laws and regulations including permits are reviewed in this chapter. Included are the Federal Clean Air Act Amendment (CAAA), the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA) regulations, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or, as it is also known, the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Also discussed along with the regulations under OSHAare the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER). 

Hazardous Substances Act as amended supercedes the earlier legislation this Act is administered by the Consumer Products Safety Commission at present. Other Acts also include precautionary labeling provisions, for example the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration contains provisions for precautionary labeling. Other label requirements of principal interest to the chemical industry are also contained in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, The Toxic Substance Control Act, and the Transportation Act. 

In addition, all researchers should be familiar with the principal provisions and concepts of the most important laws and regulations that affect laboratories across the country. The two most important are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration s regulation. Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories (the OSHA Laboratory Standard) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), under which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates hazardous waste. Because of its importance, the text of the OSHA Laboratory Standard is reprinted in Appendix A. Researchers, laboratory workers, and, in particular, laboratory managers and supervisors should read and understand these regulations. 

The basic laws-the Occupational Safety and Health Act, governing worker safety and health, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, governing the safe generation, storage, transport, and disposal of hazardous chemical waste, and the Clean Air Act and Federal Water Pollution Control Act, protecting puhhc health and the environment-... 

The occupancy factor is calculated for the risk graph (lEC 61511, 2003). For flammable hazards, ignition probability shall be considered. In all cases of unsure issues or conservative values, one is chosen in work sheet. 

Levels -All areas and equipment are posted with caution or dango signs that describe the potential hazard and measures to be tak. Signs are highly visible and positioned at entrances and on the paiphay of potential noise-hazardous areas. The Occupational Noise Exposure Standard and Hearing Conservation Amendment are posted in all potential noise-hazardous areas. Applicable 85 dBA and 140 dBP contours are established. 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards recommend minimum outdoor air quantities for hazardous occupancies. NFPA standards are a requirement insofar as building codes have adopted them by reference. Building codes frequently specify minimum outdoor air requirements for numerous hazardous and nonhazardous occupancies. ASHRAE Standard 62 recommends minimum quantities of outdoor air for numerous activities. In the interest of energy conservation, 5 fP/min (2.4 L/s) per person had been considered acceptable for sedentary non-smoking activities, but this was later determined to be inadequate. ASHRAE 62-1989 typically requires at least 20 ft /min (9.5 L/s) per person. Refer to the ASHRAE standards for additional requirements. 

The activities of conservation, taxidermy and display technology have received relatively little attention from occupational hygienists and safety practitioners in the past. Traditionally, the practice of these museum activities is rooted in the use of some fairly hazardous materials and techniques, and customs which are today still maintained by many. A brief and necessarily incomplete review of some of the more contentious safety issues with which the profession has been faced for many decades is attempted in the second half of the chapter. 

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